She is a wild Flower
by Captain Luky Greace
Summary: When he meets her, he thought she was like the blond princess... Actually, he would never have thought that a flower could be that wild though. [Hint of Luigi x Daisy]


AN: Hello ! I come back with a one shot, I always wanted to make a story about how Luigi and Daisy meet, it always intrigued me. So here is, I wrote it. You'll have some question into it, so before saying, this story can kinda be a part of a story I'm plaining to write ! And I put Azalea as Daisy's old sister too. Cause let's admit it... They does the same design (they fuse Daisy's old design and Azalea new one to create Daisy's actual design I guess) but this is just a part of my story, I don't pretend that is canon. But I try to be the very close to it ! Also you can think this kinda happen between a big mix of the two first Mario Kart, Mario Tennis 64, Mario Golf 64 and Nes Open Tournament, so Daisy have her old design ;) A big thank you to AdvancedAlto who took the time to correct this one shot ! So please share your thoughts about it at the end, thank you :D

* * *

**She is a wild flower. **

When the Princess announced early that this month of April would be dedicated to the games at the Mushroom Kingdom to celebrate Spring, Luigi found himself with sparkling eyes. Two weeks would be devoted to games that everyone in the kingdom used to practice. He thought that it'd be the equal of the Olympic Games in his world. Thus, several kingdoms and famous personalities had been invited to participate, as well as him and his twin brother.

Since then, the two brothers had gradually begun to behave like rivals, knowing that they both were very competitive or at least Mario was. But they still remained close, of course, especially when they'd learned that some games would have them participate as a team. In his heart, Luigi secretly prayed that he'd be in a team with his brother, rather than someone else. He was mostly afraid at one point that he'd have to be with Bowser.

The two brothers were very surprised to learn that he'd be present, with the Princess having told them she was obliged to invite him for a peaceful purpose. The green plumber didn't believe for a moment that King Koopa would stay peaceful, but he knew Peach was counting on Mario and him to stop him if he ever tried anything.

But deep inside, Luigi was so impatient for the games to begin. If he managed to win even one of them, he could finally be seen and recognized in the kingdom.

Since his brother had often come to rescue the Princess, Bowser had named him as his number one enemy. Because of that, Mario was like a celebrity in the kingdom. A hero who repelled the invader and saved the beautiful girl from the claws of the monster. Citizens felt safe when he was around. Although Luigi also helped his brother on these rescue missions, he ended up being swallowed by fear and sometimes fleeing or hiding somewhere. Bowser had no interest in the green man or even the citizens. He wasn't jealous of his brother, not really, yet they both had hearts beating for Princess Peach.

Peach had always been kind to them and had always treated Luigi with kindness, knowing perfectly well the difference between them. And the two brothers felt totally different feelings about her, but the result was the same, they both loved her. However, he noticed that even though she'd never said it, and rarely disclosed it, he'd seen that she was much closer to his brother. The pain in his heart was deep. In this kingdom, apart from his brother and the Princess' friendship, no one really liked Luigi. When he met civilians, he was often called "Green Mario". He thought that fate made fun of him because when they arrived at the Mushroom Kingdom, he was the one who wanted to stay. The green plumber hadn't spoken to his brother, but the red one had noticed. One day, his brother had taken his time to talk to him about it, explaining to him that he'd always be there for him and that he'd give him advice. His brother knew him all too well, the two of them always have been like that when they were children.

One afternoon, his brother had gone to prepare the place, so he'd asked if his brother wanted to come, but Luigi had told him he had something he needed to finish. Mario had also told him to come by late afternoon, as the Princess had invited them for tea and wanted to explain to them how the games would work when there had to be teams. He'd also learned that they wouldn't be alone, as Peach had invited three other people who had notions of teamwork. One of them was the Toad they knew best, the one who usually welcomed them to the castle, also being the first Toad they'd met. He'd also be accompanied by a female Toad who had a good reputation. On the other hand, he had no idea who the third person was. The green plumber felt terrified that King Koopa would be present among them.

While walking towards the castle, Luigi thought about the various activities that there would be. He had learned that there would be a kart race, but the Princess had little information on this subject because it was a Lakitu who was in charge of the organization. He also knew that there would be tennis and golf, but this time it was Toadsworth who took charge of the organization. Other games were obviously planned, but they were not announced to keep some of it a surprise.

A strange moan made him come out of his thoughts and he stopped walking. Looking around, Luigi could see a person in front of some blooming bushes. At first, he thought it was Peach, but he noticed different details that the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom didn't have. This person had her back turned to him, but he could see long hair, as long as Peach's hair, though unlike her hair, the hair of the mysterious stranger was a brown that was close to red and a dress was yellow with a white pattern. Luigi slowly moved closer to the person, quite intrigued by her resemblance to the blonde Princess, but also by what she was doing. He noticed the crown on her head too. He tried to get rid of all the theories, for example, that Peach would have a hidden twin sister, but that theory wouldn't stand.

A noise had broken the silence that had been and Luigi froze on the spot, while the girl turned abruptly, their eyes meeting. Luigi's heart started to leap. He took note of each new detail of the stranger. She was more tanned than Peach, but her eyes were just as blue. Unlike the gentle look that the blonde Princess used to have, this Princess had a stronger, more aggressive look, but he could understand that she seemed angry and that she was sad as well. Also, in one of her gloved hands, she held a white flower firmly like those of the bushes, except that it was in very bad condition. When she blinked at him, she showed a more surprised expression and Luigi thought that time had stopped.

The green plumber felt like a magnet, suddenly attracted to this girl, but he couldn't tell why he felt like that. He tried to smile and get closer to her, however, she stopped looking at him to look behind him. She let go of the flower she was holding and moved closer to him too.

"Watch out!" she shouted as she walked towards him.

The green plumber stopped again, confused by what she'd just said. The mysterious Princess was running towards him, her fist raised. He was frightened, but with her other hand free, she pressed it on his shoulder to push him to the ground. His cap also fell off his head, landing on the grassy ground. He noticed a winged Koopa who'd been behind his back. He saw that this girl had gone towards it and that she gave it a big punch in the face, sending it flying towards the sky. The man with the mustache was shocked at what just had happened, but also at the violence this Princess was showing. She was definitely not like Peach, that was for sure.

He got up from the ground and picking up his cap, which he put on his head and dusted off his butt. He looked at the mysterious Princess, who once again had her back turned to him. She hadn't said anything yet, while he scratched his neck, thinking about what he could say. But when he opened his mouth to thank her, she didn't give him the chance to speak.

"Looks like I saved your butt this time."

It wasn't a question, but a statement. The dark-haired Princess had turned to him, a smile at the edge of her lips. Luigi was lost in his confusion now, as she folded her arms and leaned towards him.

"You wouldn't have believed it, huh?"

The plumber still didn't answer. She gave him the impression that she seemed to know him, yet he'd never met her in his life. The strange Princess straightened up and watched him from top to bottom.

"Hey, have you lost weight since last time?"

This time, Luigi blushed shamefully, pulling away from her. He knew she was confusing him with someone he knew very well.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" he finally replied with annoyance.

Hearing his words, the brunette Princess stopped smiling, as little by little surprise replaced her sudden pride and she went back to examine the details of the boy she had in front of her. She then, shamefully, realized something.

"Wait, you're not Mario?"

Painfully, Luigi's heart calmed down, as he'd once again been confused with his older brother. It was becoming too scary that it could almost become a habit. But he blinked a few times, trying to understand how his brother knew this Princess. Why didn't he ever tell him about her? His brother always spoke to him about the most friendly encounters or the loves he'd had. Only since last year, Mario had spoken only of Peach or formerly of Pauline.

"How do you know my brother?" he asked in a louder, but curious, voice.

She put her hands on each of her hips, already seeming to be confused.

"Mario's your brother?" she responded.

Even if he waited for another answer, the young man answered first.

"Yes, we're twins," he said with a nod, crossing his arms. "Strangely, he never told me about you."

It took some time for the mysterious girl to react, but then she began to let out a small laugh, covering her mouth with her hand. Looking at her reaction, the plumber tilted his head, being confused.

"It's not surprising!" she answered between laughs. "Our meeting ended so badly last time!"

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously.

She stopped laughing and put the fingertips of one hand on her chest that she had inflated and the other hand was resting on her hip, trying to take a posture that made her more look egocentric.

"Do you know Daisy from Sarasaland?" she asked as if she were going to tell a heroic story. "The Princess who fought against aliens!"

Luigi was amazed that this girl would have fought against aliens! Real ones! He didn't doubt her strength that she'd shown minutes earlier. His eyes sparkled with wonder, but he stopped when he noticed she was waiting for an answer from him. He had to come back to reality to answer.

"No, I don't," he said in a small voice.

Although he hoped that she would react otherwise, he began to regret his response. She took him by the collar of his green sweater and brought him closer to her face.

"I am the Princess of Sarasaland! You have her in front of you! I defeated aliens in a spaceship!"

He swallowed the saliva in his mouth. She was way too close to his face, his cheeks warm like a kettle. He tried to catch up. "I'm sorry, but I've never heard of Sarasaland!"

The Princess sighed and let it go. With a guilty look, he realized that she'd gone a little too far in her reaction.

"It's okay," she spoke with a softer voice as she looked at the ground. "After all, your brother didn't tell you about it. "

This sentence seemed to be an accusation. Luigi looked down from her, trying to find an excuse so he could defend his brother. "He must have been busy, that's probably why he didn't tell me about you or Sarasaland."

Thinking about it, he wondered if, in the end, this girl wasn't just a relationship that his brother had quickly had, which just didn't last very long. She had just said that it ended very badly the last time they saw each other.

"If he'd been so busy," she began in a hollow voice, while still looking elsewhere. "Why did he come to help me?"

He looked at her again, in confusion, but it didn't last long when another voice called out to them. "Ah! Daisy!"

He recognized that voice, a voice he knew so well.

"Peach?" the woman asked with concern.

The princess in pink approached them, with Daisy taking her in her arms like she'd known her forever. The two girls seemed very close from Luigi's point of view and they could practically be sisters. But he quickly noticed that his brother had followed the blonde princess, who offered only a grimace for the guest.

"Daisy..." Mario muttered dryly, contrary to what Peach had just done.

Daisy had turned to him, an eyebrow raised and then chuckled.

"Oh, thanks for the warm welcome!" she answered.

The blonde princess looked at her friend, slightly shocked by her behavior towards the red plumber. She tried to lower the tension that was beginning to be felt, looking at the green plumber.

He nodded quickly to her, while Daisy, her hands on her hips, had bent down to bring her head toward the face of the red plumber as if they mentally challenged each other.

"You see, I wanted to introduce her to you since Mario already knows her!" the blonde princess stated.

"How?" Luigi asked.

"Because of a rescue mission." his brother mentioned, still looking at the other Princess challengingly.

Daisy face was red with anger and stood up. "I didn't need your help! I was doing well without anyone!"

She crossed her arms while being irritated, which amused Mario.

"Oh, so it wasn't you at the end," he began, enjoying his teasing. "who came to me in tears to be held in my arms."

He then took a more dramatic tone, as if he was acting in a play. "Who was also shouting 'Oh thank you, Mario!' and never letting me go afterwards."

The brunette princess boiled at his mockery, tightening her fists hard, ready at any moment to put one in his face. Luigi was totally lost by what'd just been said while strangely, Peach's reaction was more difficult to decipher. She had a smile on her face, but it seemed wrong, though she got back to her usual mood.

"A few months ago I asked Mario, after receiving a message from the King of Sarasaland," she added to the green plumber to make him understand better, "that Daisy was kidnapped by aliens and that it was necessary to save her."

So, the story was just as different as what Princess Daisy had told. Luigi put his eyes back on her, who was bruised, and also on Mario. He felt a little confused at why his brother had never told him that he'd gone to save a princess from another kingdom.

"I didn't need your help." The brunette princess retorted, her back turned towards them.

Peach sighed at her reaction. Not wishing to get lost in this conversation, she invited them to go to the castle.

Luigi walked beside his brother, while Peach and Daisy were in front of them, talking about things between girls. He took the opportunity to ask his brother why he'd never really spoken to him about this adventure or about Daisy.

"At first I thought she was just a normal princess, but she turned out to be a lot more brutal." the red plumber explained.

"Huh?" Luigi reacted, tilting his head in confusion.

"When I saved her from the aliens, I was in a spaceship and had to bring it back with us. However, she wanted to control everything," he paused, but finally let out an exasperated sigh. "She managed to blow up a small part of the city and there was, supposedly, still a troop of aliens there."

Luigi's bones shivered when he heard that. Already Mario's version was much more different than what Daisy had told him earlier. She would've done something very serious and Mario had to make her understand that what she'd done wasn't okay, but given the energy and the childish personality of this girl, she must have taken it badly and so was the reason why they didn't like each other very much.

Once in the room, Luigi and Mario had met Toad's partner, a toad who went by the simple name of Toadette. She was different thanks to her braids and her pink color. He explained that he and his partner had been a duo for years. Luigi was delighted and she looked nice, especially since she could tell the difference between the red and green plumber.

But as soon as they were all seated, a cup of tea in their hand with a tray of biscuit on a base table, no one hastened to say something. The air was pretty heavy. The little brother would've thought he'd come with Mario to a weird meeting of anonymous twins because it was true that Toad and Toadette were alike, but as for Peach and Daisy, they too were just as similar. As he'd noticed earlier, he had mistaken Daisy for Peach at first.

"You look like each other, I think," he said pointing to the two princesses.

The two girls turned their gaze in his direction at the same time, while Mario choked softly.

"Oh, you think?" Peach asked as if she'd just been complimented.

"Not at all..." Mario muttered, however, in his cup of tea.

"Well, it's almost like twins!" the green plumber asserted while smiling, trying to change the mood of the room.

Peach laughed softly, Daisy suddenly seemed more pensive, keeping her eyes on her cup. The Toads, on the other hand, just watched the conversation.

"You see Luigi," the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom spoke. "Daisy and I have known each other since we were very young, with our two kingdoms having been allies for ages and our two families have known each other for centuries!"

She paused, taking a sip of tea. Luigi was excited about what he heard, although his big brother was just as interested, he was more focused on the cookies on the table.

"So, Daisy and I've been very close. You could say that we're practically sisters."

The way Peach smiled was proof that the girl was happy to have known the Princess of Sarasaland, but yet, despite all these beautiful words, the princess in yellow still didn't react.

"Although," the princess in pink added again. "Daisy already has a sister. But that's another story. How's Azalea doing?"

The dark-haired princess said nothing, still looking at the cup in her hands that she still hadn't touched.

"She's doing well," she answered eventually with a small voice.

The green brother was surprised at her reaction. The Princess was much calmer and seemed rather hesitant to talk about her.

"So, you have a sister?" Luigi asked curiously.

Daisy looked at Luigi with a raised eyebrow, putting her cup of tea on the table next to her and sinking into her chair.

"She's my big sister and let's say she's just a little too worried about studying."

Peach then began to take over explaining for her. Daisy was the only representative of her kingdom because she was the only one available to come, with her sister being the one who would be destined to be queen. The princess's father put a lot of hope in his eldest daughter.

When her father was mentioned, Daisy laughed sarcastically, which caught the notice of everyone. When she'd finished, she gently spoke, while looking at her friend out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh Peach, if you knew how lucky you are..."

Curiosity, the blonde blinked several times and looked at the princess in yellow. "What do you mean?"

Luigi noticed that Daisy looked more thoughtful, looking somewhere, not really looking at anything. "My father still annoys me so much, but you already knew that."

The blonde began to frown. "Look, Daisy, you know very well that your father's worried about you."

In the end, the yellow princess finally got up from her seat, with anger she was trying to control. "Why should he?! He already knows that his kingdom is in good hands! I'm only the second princess!"

A feeling invaded Luigi's chest. Everything she said felt so familiar. He felt compassionate towards her. He watched as the other princess then stood up too, not caring for the Toads, his brother and him.

"Your father still contacted me when you were captured!" Peach replied with a louder voice but trying to not scream. "He asked me to send the best fighter I had for you!"

Daisy managed a grin, her face distorted by irony.

"Yeah of course, at the same time with this war, I understand that you didn't have any more handsome men to send," she mocked as she heard the red plumber complain over her remark, though she didn't care about it. "Besides with this war, why didn't Father go with your father? He could've at least died as a hero there with your father and it would've been much better for us!"

Shocked at the words, Peach gasped and covered her mouth. The Toads were speechless, Mario could feel anger bubbling inside him and Luigi was just as stunned, but he noticed the brunette's face and eyes, which despite her forced smile, were full of sadness. She wore a kind of scar that was impossible to heal.

Before the concerned one could say anything, she left the room without apology or someone stopping her. Peach didn't look at her, instead slowly folding into herself. The red plumber approached the worried blonde princess, wanting to know if everything was alright, the toads doing the same. Though concerned that Peach may have been hurt by the words of the other princess, Luigi still wanted to know more about her. He left the room to find the princess in yellow.

The green plumber found her outside the castle, in the gardens, sitting on the grass and surrounded by little daisies. He noticed that she'd taken several flowers in her hands and seemed to torture them, as she'd done earlier when they first met. As he approached her, he could hear the word stupid coming from her, with it being repeated several times. He came to stop next to her and looked at her angrily for destroying the poor flowers she'd collected. She said nothing when he sat next to her, still looking at her, but she calmed down.

"Go ahead, judge me," she said without looking at him.

Luigi blinked once, then thought while watching the remains of the flowers lying around. He took one and looked at the damage it had received.

"Well, I could say something, but I guess you don't care," he confessed softly.

Daisy didn't react, instead waiting to see where he was going.

"I mean, I could tell you that I know how you feel," he sighed as he spoke. "But you hurt Peach, and so I can't really let it go."

Hearing his words, the brunette folded her knees against her, tightening them and putting her head on them. "I'll go and apologize to her later."

He didn't try to say anything else and even if her behavior exasperated him, he knew that if he got angry, it wouldn't help. The princess gazed at the horizon while tightening her grip on her lap.

"How can you feel what I feel?" she asked suddenly.

The man with the mustache turned his head toward her, scratching his temple.

"Well, you seem to be jealous of your sister," he began. "I can be jealous of my brother sometimes because he's much better than me."

At his words, Daisy had gently turned her head towards him and looked at him with a serene look.

"But it's not the right solution," he went on, which surprised the girl. "I don't have to be jealous of him. I have to see him as a role model."

He tried to see if he'd triggered something in her, but she looked a lot more attentive to what he'd just said. Noticing that she had nothing to say, he continued.

"You must not be jealous, you must see your sister as a role model!" he seemed almost to be screaming, but he calmed down. "My brother does everything to make me feel good and that's why I'm jealous of him because I wonder if I'll be able to do the same for him."

He looked down at the ground, a little weakened to think of that.

"But, Mario is a great person. He's able to give happiness and that's also why I see him as my role model. My brother is the person who guides me on the right path. This must be the case with your sister and you."

The brunette princess then looked down to look at the ground. Not taking into account his last sentence, she spoke with a weak voice.

"How can you see Mario as a role model? He's fat and not..." she didn't finish her sentence because she didn't really know what else she could say.

But Luigi crossed his arms. "Come on, there're lots of things that make Mario my role model. He's already one of the nicest people I've ever had in my life."

Still staring at the ground, the Princess answered with an even weaker voice. "I know he's nice..."

That surprised the green plumber. He didn't expect that in the end, she could say something good about his older brother. He watched her pick a new flower without destroying it as she'd done earlier.

"When he saved me," she began, her voice was louder, but still so soft. "I jumped directly into his arms."

He already knew that part, as Mario had said earlier to make fun of her.

"But, I was so in awe and anguish that I ended up crying."

Luigi was amused, not realizing fully what she'd said yet, he would never have believed that the Princess could be able to cry so openly in front of his brother. Appearances were indeed misleading. He realized that even though Daisy made her think she was just as violent, she was as fragile as him deep down.

"I cried, but he comforted me with a smile and made me understand that everything was over by stroking my head," she bit her lip gently. "Like a father who soothed his child after they had a nightmare."

She still didn't look at him, not noticing the bright eyes of the man next to her.

"I never had that with my father. He always had eyes for Azalea. I was only second, just a spare wheel if everything went wrong."

She then felt a hand gently take hers.

"My father never really made a difference between me and Mario," Luigi's voice was shaking slightly. "I understand that what yours did was horrible, preferring one child over the other."

He took her hand with his other hand.

"But, you can't wish for the death of your father!" he said, almost screaming.

Daisy could feel her hand shaking within Luigi's grip. He'd actually been touched by what she had said. A long silence began to be heavy on them, but Luigi continued.

"Mine is dead and although I know he loved me, I always feel like I haven't spent enough time with him," he was looking at the ground as he went on. Then he looked up at her, his eyes twinkling, but equally pleading. "You can change things! You can make everything better if you really want it!"

Daisy bit her trembling lip, the words of this man sounded so loud to her. Yes, she was touched that a person like him absolutely wanted to help her with advice, but she shook her head.

"I can't," she spoke in a low voice.

"Why?" Luigi asked.

"Because my father doesn't care, while Azalea works too much," she turned her head away. "Only provocations make people notice me."

Luigi loosened his grip on her hand and thought back to what Mario had said about why she had apparently destroyed part of the city. It wouldn't be the first time, she'd probably done crazier things or not as bad. It was the cries a child made to get their parents to understand that was they neglected them. Luigi had only had his father and brother in his life, so this emotional emptiness never existed in him during his childhood.

Still stuck in his thoughts, he didn't notice that the princess had started to cry and that even though she tried to wipe her eyes with her free hand, the tears continued to flow. Not wanting to see her go on, he pulled her arm towards him, taking her into a hug and hugged her tightly.

"You have to try..." he replied more gently.

The princess continued to cry on his shoulder with warm tears, while Luigi tightened his hold her little by little. In his chest, his heart was beating violently. Yes, he knew what it was to be in someone's shadow, but he also knew that even if he was only a shadow, he at least received the love of the one who hid him. The family was above all something important to him. He wanted this girl to have a life similar to his own in the sense that his father and his brother loved him. He wanted her emptiness to be filled up.

After a few minutes, Daisy had calmed down, but he still stroked her hair.

"Thank you." he heard her weakly say from her position on his shoulder.

He hadn't moved, only looking at her. She still rested her head against his shoulder, but she had her arms held gently around him too. Luigi felt himself blush wildly.

After that, Luigi and Daisy went back together to the castle. They were found by Mario and Peach, the red plumber still seemed angry and arms crossed when he looked at her, wanting her to give her most sincere apologies to Peach. Luigi reassured him that everything would be better. He was sure everything would be better.

* * *

The festivities were going well. Luigi never thought some games could be easy and others couldn't. The first week was devoted to karting, golf, and tennis. The karting was violent, but he never expected that a little person like Toadette would win the first prize. Tennis had its own form of violence, but fortunately, they only played doubles. Thankfully he ended up with Mario, so that made him happy. Daisy and Peach were together too, with the yellow princess seeming to like this sport a lot and spending a lot of time on it. But it was also during tennis that he could see that idiots like Wario and Waluigi were part of the competition. Who invited them? That remained a mystery, but fortunately, they weren't the ones who had won this tournament. He and his brother had managed to lift the cup together, while Peach and Daisy were second on the podium. The golf one was rather quiet, unlike the other activities that took place.

The next week was a week devoted to a strange festivity. It was a kind of human board game. They were the pawns themselves and at each end of the turn, they had to play mini-games to distribute most of the points. Often during the mini-games, it happened that they had to make a team in order to win. Luigi often found himself with his brother, but it had happened that he met Peach or even Daisy. Forming a team with Daisy was a real challenge. She was fast and very cheerful. It was an interesting experience and he secretly wanted one day their duo to be formed again. At one point, it was Mario who had found himself, despite trying to avoid it, with her. They seemed to be in a strange relationship, that was almost some kind of rivalry. Daisy had managed to be a little less violent than she'd been with him the first day and Mario managed that as well. They were so much like each other, one could think they were like the part of magnets that repelled each other.

There was a day when Daisy managed to surprise Luigi, no, everyone. It was when she'd violently pushed Bowser away who was about to scare her. Something he did, but he didn't get the reaction he wanted. Totally terrified, the princess had given him a big slap that sent him flying. Bowser had almost never been ashamed. Where had this strange strength come from?

But in the end, as everything has an end, the games ended on the last day with a display of fireworks. During these two weeks, he'd come to know the Princess of Sarasaland better. One evening, the two plumber brothers were invited to the castle for a meal, so Luigi was able to talk with Daisy. He'd learned something that she liked or that she hated. He'd learned that she was actively doing sports and that in Sarasaland she never lost, even against her father when they competed. There was only golf where she wasn't great. Luigi liked her company.

Now he had to say goodbye to her though.

The two brothers and Princess Peach had gathered together to see Daisy before she had to leave. They were all in the hall of the castle and her car was waiting outside. Peach was the first to say goodbye, hugging her tightly.

"It was nice to have you here again." Peach said to her. They moved away and Daisy spoke with a smile.

"Mushroom Kingdom will always be my second home, I'd still be happy to come here again."

Peach blushed softly at her words and her smile grew. She looked at Daisy, who approached Mario to say goodbye to him too. At first, she crossed her arms against her chest and he did the same.

"It was nice." she simply stated.

"It could have been better." the red plumber countered.

"What do you mean?!" Daisy exclaimed in annoyance.

In anger, she took one of the plumber's shoulders and squeezed it, which made him croak.

"Well, I admit," he added again, in spite of the pain. "In fact, I was afraid it'd be worse."

The dark-haired princess groaned as the other grinned. But he gently took the hand that held his shoulder and spoke again.

"It was also fun to play with you," he said with a sincere smile.

Looking at him, Daisy stopped. She was lost in his eyes full of honesty. She then blushed softly, but let out a sigh.

"It was fun." she eventually admitted.

She took Mario's hand that he was offering, as if it was a manly goodbye, then she got closer to the last one. Luigi blushed slightly, hands behind his back.

"Get home well, okay?" it was the only thing he could say.

But the Princess didn't answer him, instead, she quickly got close to him and tenderly kissed him on the cheek. When he felt the Princess's lips against his skin, his face turned red. Certainly Peach had sometimes given him a kiss of thanks and he was in love with her. But today it was he who received the kiss of a princess. Not Mario. Him. When she removed her lips to look at him, he first touched the place where she'd given him the kiss and saw her smile with cheeks just as red, but only slightly compared to him where the blood had now decided to stay in his head.

"I'll try." was all she tried to say to him, though it sounded more like muttering.

At first he thought she was responding to what he'd said earlier, but in the end, he realized that she was talking about something more important. It was quite relieving. Behind him, he heard little happy noises coming from Peach as if she found their moment together cute.

"It's funny!" Toadette said, who'd watched them from the beginning. "You look at each other at the same way Mario and Peach do sometimes!"

For a brief second, no one had really understood what she meant, but Peach reacted first and turned completely red. Mario had lowered his cap so that his face wasn't visible. And as the words reached Luigi, who was out of touch with what he'd heard. Daisy's only reaction was laughter, but not a laugh making fun of someone. It was a real laugh that made her happy.

Taking her bags, Daisy had gone to the door to leave, but before going out, she looked one last time at the green plumber, speaking with her blue eyes, no words needing to be said.

When she finally left, Mario had moved closer to him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Bro," Luigi started without looking at him while touching his cheek with his fingertips. "I think I finally managed to give someone hope."

His brother didn't answer, only giving him a few pats of pride on his shoulder.

* * *

Three months later, new games were organized, this time to celebrate the summer. The week started with tennis. Daisy was the only one missing, although she should have been present, she still hadn't come for the first day. She had to be there, otherwise, she might lose by default. Peach was worried about her friend, as she hadn't heard from her. Meanwhile, in front of the tennis stadium, Mario, Peach, and Luigi had tried to look everywhere.

Finally, an equally playful voice attracted them.

They saw a girl in sportswear, wearing orange shorts and a yellow tank top with a flower-shaped brooch on her chest. They all recognized her quickly. It was Daisy. Before the two brothers could say anything, Peach reacted first.

"What did you do to your hair?!" she was nearly screaming, betrayal loud and clear in her voice.

Indeed, Daisy's hair was shorter and didn't look as wild as it had before. With this new hairstyle, it was impossible to compare her with Peach now. Her racket on her shoulder, she approached Peach laughing and then she looked at the other two, and in particular, the green plumber.

"I needed a little change, because, at home, there's already change going on," she said with a wink.

Luigi's eyes started to shine. He knew what she was talking about and his heartbeat in joy. Waiting for his answer, Daisy lowered her racket and continued to look at his eyes like last time, though with more admiration. Luigi got closer too.

"Well, it suits you really well," he said with a sincere smile.


End file.
